White's defense of Bonnar tells us everything we need to know about UFC HOF

Five days before he’s due to induct a man he’s still not speaking to into the UFC Hall of Fame, UFC President Dana White did his best to explain to the media why he thinks Stephan Bonnar is deserving of the honor.

“The way I’m looking at it is, I’m inducting Forrest [Griffin], and Stephan goes with him,” White said. “Those two – it wasn’t just Forrest – both of those guys took us to this next level.”

In other words, it’s because of that one fight, which we all pretty much already knew. What we don’t seem to appreciate, at least in White’s eyes, is what that one fight truly meant for the UFC, which came into the very first live finale for “The Ultimate Fighter” with an uncertain future, and left with a deal that would at least ensure that it could keep the lights on for a little while longer.

You know this chapter of the origin story by now. The UFC, down to the last of the small fortune that the Fertitta family was willing to pump into it, bought its way onto Spike TV with an MMA reality show that White hoped would be the steppingstone to success. A gambler at heart, the UFC president bet everything on that first season. And if it hadn’t paid off?

“I’d be picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot of [the Fertitta-owned] Palace Station [casino],” White said.

Instead he’s flying around the world on a private jet, which is basically the exact opposite of plucking cigarette butts off the scorching Vegas pavement. White insists that he owes a lot of that success to Bonnar and Griffin, whose legendary fight to cap that first season of “TUF” helped propel the UFC to a deal with Spike TV, which in turn helped it become the thriving behemoth of the MMA world.

“I don’t think people really realize what that one fight meant to this sport and to this company,” White said. “… In the big picture and the way hall of fames work, it might not make sense to everybody else, but it makes sense to me.”

And, I have to admit, that explanation sounds perfectly reasonable from White’s point of view. Bonnar may be a two-time steroid cheat whose 8-7 UFC record seems mediocre at best, but you can’t take that one fight away from him. It altered the course of MMA history and changed White’s life, and that’s a very good reason for him to want to honor Griffin and Bonnar now.

It’s also further proof that the UFC Hall of Fame is more like White’s personal memorabilia room than an actual monument to the sport. Which, again, we kind of already knew.

Just in case we didn’t, though, White’s defense of Bonnar’s induction provides all the proof we need. The UFC isn’t like baseball, White insisted.

“I don’t erase anybody’s accomplishments for making a mistake,” he said.

In Bonnar’s case it’s more like accomplishment (singular) and mistakes (plural), but you get the point. The man did something that benefitted White and the UFC, and a place in the same hall of fame that honors Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock but somehow excludes Pat Miletich and Frank Shamrock, well, that’s part of his reward.

“I’ll never forget what he did and I’m going to put him in the f—ing hall of fame with Forrest,” White said.

Note the prominent use of the first-person there. “I’m going to put him in the f—ing hall of fame.” Because it’s the UFC’s sole property, White can do that. It’s as simple as one very powerful man deciding that it should be so, and it becomes so.

That’s the exact scenario that every other legit sports hall of fame seeks to avoid – one guy with one vote that trumps all others. That’s why other sports do this stuff by committee, so no one person can exert too much influence. The UFC’s approach is the exact opposite, which is fine, but which also serves as the only argument you need as to why we shouldn’t take it too seriously.

White wants to say thank you to Bonnar? That’s totally understandable. It’s commendable even, especially considering how personally White took Bonnar’s most recent drug test failure. It’s perfectly in line with our understanding of White as a ruthless but loyal businessman who forgets neither his friends nor his enemies.

But let’s just remember that one man’s public show of appreciation for another – even if its done in a Vegas casino convention hall in front of a bunch of dutifully enthusiastic supporters – is not at all what hall of fames are about. It’s not so much a recognition of an MMA great as it is an ‘atta boy from the boss.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s the UFC’s hall of fame, and it can do with that as it pleases, just like you can print your own money if you want to, as long as you understand that it won’t buy you a thing. That’s the only thing the UFC can’t do with its hall of fame, is infuse it with meaning. That’s because a hall of fame is just a symbol. It’s like a title belt or a wedding ring. It only means what we agree it does. And one powerful man – even one as powerful as White – can’t magically transform a wall full of photos into a meaningful monument to the greats. Not all by himself. Not this time.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.